Online Dynamic Server 7.1 and OSF/1 3.0

We're a new Informix user. I just got off the phone with Informix tech support. Boy, am I less than impressed. The OLDS 7.1 release notes state that there's a mandatory patch for OSF/1 3.0 and 3.0B, and that Informix is not guaranteed to run correctly without it. It also faile to give any information other than that we should contact DEC and get the "DATABASE PATCH". I called DEC. They had no knowledge of any such patch, nor any information in their database that related to Informix - of any version. They gave me a patch number that related to multiprocessor machines, or Sybase, or any program that used the ITIMER_VIRTUALTIMER system call. I went back to the Informix SE that works with us, and asked that he find out either a patch number or a description of the problem the patch is supposed to fix. A week passed. Meanwhile, we had users start to use the system. Two days ago, one of them went to create a database - and the entire system locked up. This behavior is repeatable, and happens whether the database is created from SQL or dbaccess. Needless to say, this is unacceptable... I called Informix myself, since we couldn't wait any more for the SE to come up with the info. I got a representative, and (over about 20 minutes) came to find out that they thought that patch OSFV30-068-2 (not the one DEC told me about, BTW) was it, but they had no description of what the problem was that the patch was supposed to fix, and here's the incredible part: NO RELIABLE WAY TO FIND OUT! He said that if I needed a description of the problem, that I should get the description of the patch from DEC. He didn't understand that I wanted to verify that the patch fixed what Informix thought was the problem. He also told me that he could not go back to the original person who came up with that patch number because he didn't know, and couldn't find out, who to talk to - his only recourse was to send email company-wide and hope someone would respond! This is absolutely ludicrous. Even Computer Associates - the armpit of the industry when it comes to support - can do better than that! Anyway, if there's anyone out there who knows for sure that that patch is the Right Thing, or if not what the Right Thing is, please let me know. If there's an Informix manager reading this who can explain how Informix support isn't just this side of completely useless, drop me a note, too; I (and my Director of Data Processing) would be happy to listen. -- Jay Maynard, EMT-P, K5ZC, PP-ASEL | Never ascribe to malice that which can jmaynard@admin5.hsc.uth.tmc.edu | adequately be explained by stupidity. "All is strange and vague." "Are we dead?" "Or is this Ohio?" -- Yakko and Dot Warner